Sacrifice Arcadia Bay - Extended Ending
by GhostPanda1314
Summary: My take on the ending of Life is Strange. Rated M for language. Max/Chloe. Oneshot. End-Game Spoilers.


I looked at the giant tornado that threatened to swallow Arcadia Bay with a horrifying realization. "This is my storm. I caused this… I caused all of this. I changed fate and destiny so much that… I actually altered the course of everything. And all I actually created was just death and destruction!"

I began to fall apart. The people from my nightmare was right—I was going to kill them all. This was all my fault!

"Fuck all of that, okay?" Chloe said, noticing my state of mind. "You were given a power. You didn't ask for it... And you saved me. Which had to happen, all of this did… except for what happened to Rachel. But without your power, we wouldn't have found her! Okay, so you're not the goddamn Time Master, but you're Maxine Caulfield… and you're amazing."

Normally I would smile at the compliment, but my gaze was simply drawn back to the storm, only minutes away from hitting the shore.

"Max, this is the only way," Chloe said, startling me. She handed me the picture that started this all—a blue butterfly perched on a bucket in the girl's bathroom.

"I feel like I took this shot a thousand years ago," I said, staring in disbelief.

"You… you could use that photo to change everything back to before you took that picture. All that would take is for me to… to…" her voice cracked as she started to cry.

"Fuck that!" I shouted, angry. There was no fucking way I was going to let her die. Not again. "No… no way. You are my number one priority now. You are all that matters to me."

"I know," she said, tears in her eyes. "You proved that over and over again… even though I don't deserve it. I'm so selfish... not like my mom… Look what she had to give up and live through… and she did. She deserves so much more than to be killed by a storm in a fucking diner." I winced, thinking of the gas explosion I stopped when I had grabbed the picture from Warren. "Even my step… father deserves her alive. There's so many more people in arcadia bay who should live... way more than me…"

She turned away again, her shoulders shaking as she tried to stifle her own sobs.

"Don't say that… I won't trade you," I said firmly.

"You're not trading me. Maybe you've just been delaying my real destiny… look at how many times I've almost died or actually died around you. Look at what's happened in arcadia bay ever since you first saved me. I know I've been selfish, but for once I think I should accept my fate… our fate…"

"Chloe…" Now I was crying. I wanted to hold my tears back, I wanted to hug her and tell her that wasn't true, but… maybe she was right…

"Max, you finally came back this week and… you did nothing but show me your love and friendship. You made me smile and laugh, like I haven't done in years. Wherever I end up after this… in whatever reality… all those moments between us were real, and they'll always be ours. No matter what you choose, I know you'll make the right decision."

"Chloe… I can't make this choice…" I pleaded with her. I can't choose, not again.

"No, Max… you're the only one who can," she said softly. She stayed silent as I considered my options. If I let the tornado destroy Arcadia Bay, Chloe would live. However the chances of anyone else living were slim to none. An entire town would die so that she could live.

But if I went back in time to stop all of this, Chloe would die on that bathroom floor, alone and feeling unwanted. Not ever knowing I came back; not ever knowing what happened to Rachel Amber. She would die believing Nathan's words that no one would care.

"Max… it's time…" Time to make my choice.

I've never made an easier choice.

"Not anymore," I said. I ripped the picture up and tossed it to the breeze.

Yeah I was selfish. But I loved Chloe more than anything else in this world. And I refuse to let her die feeling worthless. I refuse to let her die feeling alone.

I refuse to let anything take her away from me.

The look on her face as she watched the picture float away was one of utter disbelief.

Together we walked to the edge of the cliff and watched as the tornado swept up the tiny town of Arcadia Bay

"Max… I'll always be with you," Chloe said as she slipped her hand into mine. Her hands felt so small now.

"Forever…" I told her. There was no way I was going to let her get away from me.

I wanted to kiss her then. To confess my feelings for her and tell her that I loved her and I would always love her.

But instead we silently watched as Arcadia Bay was destroyed. And I definitely feel that actions speak louder than words in this case.

When the storm finally subsided, we made our way back down from the lighthouse. We briefly scouted the town for a place to stay since we were exhausted, and found that Chloe's house had, miraculously, survived the tornado for the most part. The garage was ripped clean open, but Chloe's room was still intact. We spent the night there, sharing the bed once more.

In the dark of the night, as we held each other for support and cried over our friends and family who were sure to be dead, I told her I loved her. She told me the same, and we sealed our love with a promise—a kiss.

Waking up the next day, a quick look at my phone revealed that Kate, who I thought was at the hospital when the tornado hit, had actually left town early Friday morning. She was fine and was asking about me and the others. I closed my phone without replying—I wanted to find out for myself before I told her anything.

Suddenly we heard shouting coming from downstairs and, when we rushed to see who it was, saw David standing in the house, looking for Joyce. He saw Chloe and, for once, Chloe was happy to see him. She even let him hug her.

David briefed us, telling us that he was safe in the Dark Room while the storm hit. Jefferson had also survived the storm, but when David was walking him to town, he made a break for it and a tree that had barely been hanging on fell, killing him.

I can't say I was disappointed.

Together, the three of us finally went into town and looked for our friends and loved ones.

Warren was the first one we found. He was lying next to his car which was entirely upside down. It looked as though he had been ejected from it. I screamed when I saw him and David covered up his body with a blanket as Chloe comforted me.

Upon further investigation of the diner, we found the bodies of an unknown man, Joyce, Frank, and Pompidou. Frank was found under a pile of rubble and had himself over Pompidou in one last attempt to protect his beloved dog from the storm, and Joyce was found next to a large piece of wood—she had been hit in the temple and died.

Chloe, arms shaking and tears streaming, covered her body as David sunk to his knees, lost. I comforted Chloe to the best of my ability and she at least hugged me back, but I knew it wasn't enough. Chloe actually embraced David as they cried together.

Upon further investigation of town, we saw that the Blackwell dorms and School were completely gone—not a single trace left of any of the buildings that used to be there. By the time we were done searching, we hadn't found all of the people, but no one else had turned up alive just yet.

Chloe and I spent one more night in her room while David slept on the couch, unable to return to the bed he and Joyce once shared. Chloe and I agreed that the next day we were going to leave town. I hated just leaving David with no warning, especially after he saved me and after losing Joyce, but Chloe and I needed to leave.

The next morning as we made our way downstairs in an escape attempt, David was waiting for us. He apologized to Chloe, and to me, and gave us money. A lot of it. He told Chloe to keep his number and to text him if she ever needed a single thing, and she hugged him and thanked him.

I hugged him too and he told me the same thing. Chloe and I got in her truck (which, like most of Chloe's house, had turned up okay) and we set off through the main street of town. By this point, deer had already began to make their way into town. We passed by Warren's body which we had yet to move and the diner as well and stopped at an intersection just before the edge of town.

I was lost in thought staring out the window, wondering if my choice was the correct one, wondering if it was okay that I doomed these people.

Chloe put her hand on my shoulder and smiled slightly on me. I smiled back and sat up in my seat, this time looking forward.

It was time for our new adventure, and Chloe was the only one I ever wanted to experience this with.

Life has a way of letting you know that everything is okay through the smallest of signs—Chloe's hand on my shoulder told me that we had to move forward now. And that we would definitely be okay because we had each other. No words needed to be spoken as we left town because we both knew we would be happy.

Life is strange that way.

Life is strange.


End file.
